Betrayals (38 page)

And, if it became necessary, they would certainly kill again. It just remained to be seen how everyone would take mass slaughter of the helpless, if it came down to that….

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Rion stretched when he awoke and reached to where Naran had slept, but only to discover that she was no longer there. Deep breathing said that he wasn’t alone in the box stall, but sitting up and looking around showed only a sleeping Valiant. Everyone else was gone, including the woman of Rion’s heart. That probably meant she was off in the bath house, which made Rion chuckle. His greatest rival for Naran’s affections was a pool full of warm water.

Although he would have welcomed a few more hours of sleep, Rion decided it was time to start the new day. He, too, would enjoy being able to take a bath, and having clean clothing available was the result of a joint effort. They’d gotten into the habit of washing their worn clothing in the face basins of their inn rooms, and then Valiant would remove most of the water from the freshened clothing. Then Tamrissa would use heat to remove the rest, at the same time taking many of the wrinkles from the clothing as well. The last of it had been his chore, unnecessary but nevertheless rather pleasurable: he would bring air scented with fresh forest odors, and pass that through the washed clothing.

Rion smiled wryly at that as he stepped quietly out of the box stall, still rather shocked that he took such things in stride. He should have been bewailing the loss of servants to do the work, the fact that he’d been reduced to sleeping in a barn, the truth that he was now a hunted criminal. But none of that seemed to matter, and in point of fact he’d never been so happy in his life. Now there was something Mother would have loved to hear….

Here and there there were people still asleep in various box stalls, but the horses seemed to have been taken out and turned loose in a large paddock. Rion stopped at the coach to get the only set of clothing that was really his—the outfit he’d been wearing when Tamrissa had rescued him. What he now wore was Valiant’s clothing, which fit surprisingly well. But clothing wasn’t his real immediate problem; finding out which of the set of bath houses was being used by the men was.

So he walked away from the coach and the barn heading for both of them, then got the luck he’d been hoping for when he saw one of the men coming out of the bath house to the right. The man nodded to him pleasantly, a combined greeting and confirmation that that was the men’s bath house, so Rion returned the nod and entered the house.

“Rion, why are you up so early?” Lorand’s voice came, drawing Rion’s attention to those in the water. “After the hours you spent on watch, you should still be sleeping.”

“I’ll sleep longer once we have all the nastiness behind us,” Rion replied as he headed for a bench where he might leave all his clothing. “How’s the water?”

“Lifesaving,” Lorand responded, causing the other five men in the bath with him to chuckle. “And as soon as we finish washing, we have a good breakfast to look forward to. Our coach driver Lidris’s main occupation isn’t driving a coach, it seems. He’s really an experienced chef, and that’s the way he earns his silver when he isn’t working for Meerk’s organization. He’s taken over the chore of feeding us, and everyone else will take turns helping him.”

“I wonder if I have any talent for cooking,” Rion mused aloud as he undressed. “I certainly have an interest in eating, but I understand that the two don’t necessarily go together.”

“No, they don’t,” Lorand agreed, laughing along with the others again. “I’m living proof of that….”

Rion wondered why Lorand’s comments seem to simply trail off, and then he wondered if he were only imagining things. That was an excellent possibility—until he entered the bath and Lorand came up to him after he’d been given the time to wet himself thoroughly.

“We have to talk,” he said softly, as though he merely inquired again about the enjoyability of the water. “We have to decide about sharing our knowledge with the people around us.”

“I hadn’t realized there was a question about that,” Rion replied in tones equally as soft, this time seriously surprised. “Aren’t there too many people around who are keeping secrets as it is? Why would we want to join their number? And if this is truly war which we face, anything we hold back could conceivably be the one thing which gives victory to our enemies.”

“You misunderstand me,” Lorand said with a wry smile. “I’ve already listed all the reasons why we should share what we know, so you don’t have to do it all over again. What I meant was decide about how to share the knowledge. These people have only had a very small amount of instruction in using their talents, about as much as we got in the beginning in those qualifying classes. Should we begin by putting them through those exercises until they’re good at them, or should we go straight to having them make up Blendings?”

“There are about twenty of them, I think,” Rion said, automatically wetting his arms and shoulders and chest. “Is there an even division of talents in that twenty? If not, there might be a problem about forming Blendings.”

“There might be a problem even if there is,” Lorand said with a thoughtful frown. “If some of them don’t get along with the others, no one will want to be in a Blending with them. And if all the rejects end up in the same Blending, either they won’t be able to make it work, or they’ll be constantly starting up with the other Blendings rather than waiting to use their ability on the enemy. We’ll have to talk to the others about this, but I think we’ll have to go with training them first. That way we can get to know them as they get to know each other.”

“You make it sound as though we have all the time in the world,” Rion remarked, looking around for the jar of soap he’d seen at the bath’s edge before entering the water. “I seriously doubt if that’s true, and there’s another problem you seem to have overlooked. We also have to decide what to do with Alsin Meerk, even if he returns to his original self and stops being so intense. He and Lidris are the only two people among us who aren’t High talents, and that’s bound to make trouble no matter what any of us do.”

“That’s something else I hadn’t thought about, and I should have,” Lorand said, running both hands through his wet hair. “I’ll go and talk to Jovvi and Tamrissa, and when Valiant wakes up we can have a meeting. Meanwhile, I think we’ll do well to set up a practice schedule for our companions. If they don’t overdo it, the workout will help them no matter what we decide to start with.”

Rion nodded his agreement, then went for the soap while Lorand headed out of the bath. He used the soap to wash first his hair and then his body, and when he’d rinsed off completely, one of the other men in the bath approached him.

“I’m Torbin Lohl, Air magic,” the man said by way of introduction, his smile somewhat on the tentative side. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Not at all,” Rion replied as pleasantly as possible. He still felt a bit of reserve with strangers, but nothing like what he used to. “And I’m Rion Mardimil, also Air magic.”

“I know,” Torbin Lohl replied, his manner still tentative.

He was a tall, thin man with a long face, approximately the same age as Rion and his Blendingmates, but with a bit less self-possession. “Since we’re both Air magic users, I decided that you’re the one I should ask. Did I hear you and the other man say something about training us?”

“That’s Lorand Coll, Earth magic, and yes, you certainly did,” Rion responded. “Our five went through rather intense sessions of training, which improved our handling of our various talents. We know you’ll all benefit from the same, but what we teach you and when depends on how long we have until the pursuing guardsmen catch up to us. It won’t help to form you into Blendings if you don’t have time to practice as Blendings.”

“You … want us to become Blendings?” the man asked, now looking disturbed as he glanced back at the others in the water. “But that’s against the law. If they catch us, we’ll be executed on the spot.”

“My dear man, what do you expect will happen anyway?” Rion said, trying to hold back his sudden annoyance. “The nobility got rid of you people in the first place because you’re much too dangerous to have around, and that, by the way, is the reason for the law you just mentioned. The nobility is afraid to have anyone know too much about their ability, for fear that someone will find out that their Seated Blendings aren’t really what they’re supposed to be. My groupmates and I have decided not to let that continue, and we thought you all chose to join us in our endeavors. Were we wrong?”

“Very frankly, I have no idea,” the man said, sounding as bewildered as the other three looked. “We all woke up to find ourselves in a situation we never imagined, and for one reason or another decided against going home. We also decided to throw in our lot with your group, but I never thought—Well, I don’t know what I never thought, but it looks like I have to do some thinking now.”

The other three men murmured their agreement, and Rion suddenly realized how… disoriented and lost they must feel. One minute they were being tested as potential Highs who might have careers with the empire, and the next they awoke to find themselves hunted criminals. It was a terrible thing to have happen, even to people who were more or less prepared for it.

“You might also want to discuss it with the others,” Rion suggested after a moment, now speaking a good deal more gently. “You’re all entitled to make your own decisions just as we did, so don’t be afraid that you’ll be forced to do anything you don’t want to. Think about it, talk it over with the others, and then we’ll all have a meeting.”

Lohl and the others nodded, but not with very much enthusiasm. That couldn’t be helped, of course, but one thing could be: his presence was now an intrusion, keeping the four men from speaking their mind to each other. For that reason Rion rinsed off one more time, then left the bath. The four men would appreciate the privacy, and hopefully use it to settle all their qualms.

Once dressed again and outside, Rion discovered that the temporary kitchen had been set up at the back of the wagon, which stood on the opposite side of the barn doors from the coach. Interesting aromas wafted to him from the large cookfire, and made him glad that the sun was trying to come out. The lack of rain would make their eating outdoors seem almost like a picnic—unless the pursuing ants swooped down at just the wrong time. For their own sake, Rion hoped they didn’t. If his meal was interrupted before his hunger was assuaged, he would take his crossness out on those who caused the interruption.

Naran greeted him with a radiant smile and a tasty kiss, the tastiness coming from the food she’d been in the process of eating. There were eggs on the metallic plate she ate from, but there was also chicken and ham. Not exactly the most usual of breakfasts, but apparently a hearty one.

“You look troubled, my love,” she said after a moment, her smile fading. “Is something wrong?”

“Only in a manner of speaking,” he replied, smoothing her hair back with one hand as he tried to use his own smile to restore hers. “Some of our companions are … confused about what they might be asked to do, and we need to have a general meeting. But first the others and I should talk.”

“Jovvi and Tamrissa are over there,” Naran said with an understanding nod, indicating the two women Rion had already noticed. “Lorand has gone to bring food to the men on watch, and should be returning any moment. I’m not certain, but I think Valiant is still asleep.”

“He was when I left the stall,” Rion agreed, then touched her arm gently. “I’m going to get something to eat myself, then I’ll talk to Jovvi and Tamrissa. Will you do me the honor of staying by my side?”

“Forever,” she replied with that dear smile curving her lips again, but then it was lost for the second time. “But I have the definite feeling that we’d do best not spending too much time in discussion. Those guardsmen who are coming after us … I can almost feel them breathing down the back of my neck.”

Rion experienced a chill at those words, so closely did they match his own feelings. They weren’t going to be allowed much time at all, so they had to do as well as they could with what they had. After that… well, that all depended on what happened before the afterward came….

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

By the time Lorand came back from bringing food to the people on watch, Valiant had come out for his own breakfast. He’d also taken a quick—cold—bath before lying down for a few hours of sleep, so once he and Lorand finished eating we were able to have our meeting—which Lorand opened.

“We all agree we don’t have much time, so let’s get to the most important topic first,” he said as he looked around at us. “Rion told us that some of our companions here might not be ready to commit themselves to our plans yet, and that despite the fact that they’ve come along with us. Should we simply get them started on practice exercises, or get the question of commitment settled first?”

“Why don’t we start by asking them if they’ve made up their minds yet?” Jovvi suggested. We stood by ourselves to one side of the back of the barn, and the others seemed to be deliberately giving us privacy. “If they have made up their minds, then that part of it is out of the way. If they haven’t, they can practice while they’re thinking about what to do.”

Everyone liked that suggestion, so Rion partially changed the subject by asking how we were going to train the Air magic users once we got past the initial exercises. The building he’d been trained in had been sealable, but we had nothing like that at our disposal. It was a definite problem, but rather than try to think of a solution, my mind insisted on returning to the problem that was mine to solve. I’d already done more thinking about it than I’d found comfortable, but the conclusion was unavoidable. I had to apologize to Valiant.

I glanced at him where he stood sipping tea, more than aware of how far away from me he’d kept himself. I suppose I’d even half expected him to apologize, but an awful lot of time had passed since he’d spoken his mind. If he were going to regret what he’d said he would have already done so, so that meant it was up to me. Which it really should be, I admitted to myself with an inner sigh. He’d done more than his share trying to make a relationship between us work, so now it had to be my turn.